Living in a caravan

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Living in a caravan
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cassy

Joined: 04 Feb 2008
Posts: 1047
Location: South West Scotland

Posted: Wed Jan 14, 09 11:28 am Post subject: Living in a caravan

We're about to move into a caravan while we build a house and will be living there for several years until the house if finished. We'll be off-grid with a composting toilet, rainwater harvesting and powered by photovoltaic panels with a generator back-up and we'll be trialling the system that we'll later use in the house.

I'm really interested to know the following-

What tips can people give for living full time in a caravan?
What do you wish you had known before you moved?
We're assuming that we should buy the biggest van we can afford and we're thinking that so long as it is water-tight, the interior condition is not important as we can re-fit. What else?

Thanks for your help!

Annette H

Joined: 18 Jul 2008
Posts: 245
Location: Worcestershire

Posted: Wed Jan 14, 09 11:42 am Post subject:
We lived in a caravan while we converted a barn and in winter it was cold and damp . Our friends did the same thing but installed a small wood burner, it made such a difference I loved the caravan, hardly any housework !

boisdevie1

Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 3897
Location: Lancaster

Posted: Wed Jan 14, 09 11:50 am Post subject:
Why a caravan. Mobile homes second hand are very very cheap. Make sure it's well insulated. Would it not be possible, for example, to stack straw bales outside the van and then protect the whole lot with a very big tarp?

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45669
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Jan 14, 09 12:04 pm Post subject:
Might be worth getting a container for storage?

earthyvirgo

Joined: 24 Aug 2007
Posts: 7972
Location: creating prints in the loft, Gerlan

Posted: Wed Jan 14, 09 1:07 pm Post subject:

I lived in a caravan for three years with my then partner whilst I was in art college. The location was brilliant, on a farm on the outskirts of Exeter but it caused a few tensions because of;

- it was flippin' cold in the winter, ice on the inside!
- almost constant damp and condensation from Autumn through to late spring
- lack of space

On the plus side, the farmer let me have the small patch of ground next to the caravan as a veggie plot (rent free) which was the most fertile soil I've ever gardened in.

EV

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Wed Jan 14, 09 5:39 pm Post subject:

Get a wood burner
buy one thats 4 season rated & double glazed
put a skirt round the out side t stop the floor chilling
insulate ALL the pipes
It will get damp
it will freeze on the inside
check the floor they are often rotten especialy in the corners
dont block the vents but do seal up the drafts
open ALL the windows EVERY day during daylight hours to reduce humidity
change the beds as you will get damp on the underside of the mattress
get a big battery bank
forget solar power PV in the winter you will need FOUR times the summer rate to get the same power
battery charging is not a simple replace the amps used caculation. You need to put 150amps in for every 100amps you use. Far better to use the power as its made if you can.
Dont use micky mouse chargers in inverters. They will fail & will end up damaging the battery bank.
Get a diesel genny
Get a quiet genny, yes it will cost LOTS more for the same power but is worth it. Ours is THIS ONE its only 57dba compared to the more normal 70 odd dba but it does mean that you cant hear it over any internal noise at all.
Smaller gennies that are 1-3kw have similar dba levels but having borrowed a 1kw one whilst waiting for our new one the sound level might be the same but the frequency is SO annoying it gets in your head.
Also consider wind power if site suits it, or better yet is water power but that requires even more site specifics.

Richard

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Jan 14, 09 9:44 pm Post subject:

RichardW wrote:

what you said

and dont park under trees

and dont put cornflakes on the roof for the birds in the summer unless you want a 4 am call

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Wed Jan 14, 09 9:51 pm Post subject:

dpack wrote:

and dont put cornflakes on the roof for the birds in the summer unless you want a 4 am call

That sounds like the voice of experience

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Jan 14, 09 9:57 pm Post subject:
umm the tree thing is nice till there is a branch in the house the birdy thing was my mum and get an industrial boot wash

Bulgarianlily

Joined: 01 Jun 2008
Posts: 1667
Location: South West Mountains of Bulgaria

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 09 8:05 am Post subject:

Put everything you might need on the table before you sit down for a meal. Jumping up and down in our van meant moving the table back and forth between the seats, and it got bloody annoying. If you can, make one bed permanent with a proper mattress raised up on a ventilated bed frame. Frame out the floor of the awning with wood and reinforce the awning poles with wood poles, and put boards over this under the cover in case of snow.

cassy

Joined: 04 Feb 2008
Posts: 1047
Location: South West Scotland

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 09 12:41 pm Post subject:

Thanks everybody - lots of good specific advice, just what I was hoping for

Annette H wrote:

Our friends did the same thing but installed a small wood burner, it made such a difference
I loved the caravan, hardly any housework !

A wood burner would be good - maybe one with a flat top to cook on. Lack of housework sounds good!

boisdevie1 wrote:

Make sure it's well insulated. Would it not be possible, for example, to stack straw bales outside the van and then protect the whole lot with a very big tarp?

I've seen some with strawbales underneath, presumably to stop the wind? If we can get a static caravan we should be able to dry-line the inside and add extra insulation.

tahir wrote:

Might be worth getting a container for storage?

Yes, you're right. Either a container, or a barn depending on the timescale. We've been hoarding things that might come in useful - can't see them all fitting into the caravan!

earthyvirgo wrote:

almost constant damp and condensation from Autumn through to late spring

That's one of the things I'm most concerned about!

@RichardW - that's lots of really good advice, thank you! I hadn't thought where the floor was most likely to be rotten or about the floor chilling. Good recommendation on the genny. Cheers!

dpack wrote:

dont park under trees
and get an industrial boot wash

It's ok, no trees available

. Lots of mud though. Hoping to put some planks in front to stop too much coming in and looking at building a 'porch' to leave wet coats and boots under.

Bulgarianlily wrote:

If you can, make one bed permanent with a proper mattress raised up on a ventilated bed frame

That's a good idea. We could build a frame to stop the mattress getting fusty and maybe re-think storage under the bed.

Gai

Joined: 31 Dec 2004
Posts: 408
Location: Ireland

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 09 3:52 pm Post subject:

We bought a second hand dehumidifier from the local free ads to help cope with the damp. Damp mildewed clothes were the worst.
Forget about your living environment being clean, tidy and dust/mud free for the duration. Adding some form of decking with covered porch type area is good for dumping wet muddy boots and coats in. Cement and plaster dust plus sawdust are impossible to keep in check once you start building. Some form of heating is essential. Freezing of water pipes and gas bottles is a real problem in winter. We once went without water and cooking facilities for 2 weeks. You will really need a separate building for storage (building materials, tools, bikes etc). We were lucky that we had existing farm buildings but a second hand large shed will do. I also situated my washing machine and freezer out there.
That all sounds really negative but if you go into it with your eyes open then living on site is great. You can get on with things like veg and livestock whilst the house is being built. You will save a fortune in rent and keep on top of most building problems. We lived in ours for 3 years and I would do it again.

cassy

Joined: 04 Feb 2008
Posts: 1047
Location: South West Scotland

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 09 6:05 pm Post subject:

Thanks gai, lots of good ideas there. 3 years - wow! It's nice to know it's do-able if we have to.

gai wrote:

You can get on with things like veg and livestock whilst the house is being built.

This is the bit I'm really looking forward to!

Mrs R

Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 7202

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 09 6:22 pm Post subject:

before my mum built her log cabin on a mountainside in scotland i spent a new years even up there in the caravan, with just a little gas heater....it was the coldest i have EVER been.

I literally felt frozen, like I was going to die of the cold

I think it was the damp inside the van on top of the cold but i spent the whole time huddled in as many blankets as i could find trying to glean heat from that little heater. Not something I would ever want to repeat, so woodburner = NUMBER 1 Priority!

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 09 6:28 pm Post subject:
Ditch the LPG heater as they PRODUCE water vapour when burnt so makes the damp worse. Richard

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